Netanyahu able to form new Israeli government

Saturday

Mar 16, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 16, 2013 at 9:51 AM

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party signed coalition deals with two other factions yesterday that will enable him to form a new government next week just before the arrival of President Barack Obama.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party signed coalition deals with two other factions yesterday that will enable him to form a new government next week just before the arrival of President Barack Obama.

The agreements with the Jewish Home and Yesh Atid parties were signed yesterday afternoon, said a member of Netanyahu’s staff.Likud party spokeswoman Noga Rappaport had earlier said that if the documents were signed yesterday, a new government would probably be sworn in on Monday.

Obama is scheduled to begin a three-day visit, his first trip to Israel as president, on Wednesday.

The new government, composed of Likud, Yisrael Beitenu, Yesh Atid and Hatnuah, will hold 68 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, the Knesset. The coalition’s makeup would enable the incoming government to make the budget cuts necessary to keep spending in check, after last year’s deficit came in above target.Netanyahu called for early elections last year after his coalition partners refused to approve $3.8 billion in budget cuts to meet a deficit target of 3 percent of economic output.

The premier’s coalition partners would also support his previously failed efforts to limit the number of military draft exemptions given to ultra-Orthodox men so they can pursue religious study.

“This is probably as good a coalition as Netanyahu could have asked for,” said Avraham Diskin, professor of political science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “The government has parties and politicians ranging from hard-line hawks to real doves and is going to come into conflict when it comes to removing even the smallest West Bank settler outpost.”

Foremost among the coalition members that want to advance the peace process is the six-seat Hatnuah party, a faction headed by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is set to become justice minister and chief negotiator with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu is holding the foreign minister’s job for Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, who resigned in December after being indicted on charges of fraud and breach of trust. Lieberman continues to serve in the Knesset through his trial, which is set to resume in April.